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Bought my first CUCV M1009, need radiator

Chief_919

Well-known member
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Western NC
I think I'd rather pay the extra $25 to have a local place to exchange it if it ever leaks. I just hope Autozone is decent about honoring their warranties, I've had bad luck at Advance where they basically tell me to go f*** myself knowing it's nowhere near worth it to take them to small claims.
Sadly these days Amazon will probably stand behind it better than any chain parts store- Amazon pretty much has a no questions asked return or exchange policy while the managers at corporate chain parts stores get bigger bonuses the lower their return rate.

If you can get a locally owned franchise store like a Napa they tend to have better service because its a local owner who isn't answering to a district manager for his return rates. Past that the online sources like Amazon and Rock Auto beat the chain places anymore.
 

Duke Nukem

New member
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NJ, USA
Yeah, I just don't know if Amazon will do anything 5 or 10 years from now if there's a problem with it. I'll definitely inspect the radiator for damage as well as matching up to the old one before I leave the store. I've been refused at least twice for warranties at Advance auto (could be more that I've forgotten). Once for brake pads that they sold with a lifetime warranty. Yeah, maybe it's unreasonable for me to expect brake pads to be replaced free forever, and I'm sure there's court precedents that back that up, but in my mind, they gave their word and backed out of it for simple greed. They told me that even though I had the receipt, they don't have a record of it in their computer because it was "too old", so they wouldn't replace them. I eventually found another store that exchanged them. Another time for one of their el cheapo batteries that was within free replacement period, wouldn't hold a charge longer than a few hours, but since their tester said it was good, I was screwed. I had to destroy it with baking soda and a hose to get it replaced. Kind of ironic that I needed to defraud them to get them to be honest. There's a couple of Napas around here, but at $100 extra, that's a bit too much more to spend. With the aforementioned issues with Advance, and the fact that they have the nerve to charge customers shipping to get an out of stock part into the store, I mostly try to avoid them these days.

I was planning on replacing both hoses as well. Should I grab the Dayco hoses at Autozone or is it worth getting them from a GM dealership? Also, any worries about getting metal particles into the oil lines from sanding?
 

richingalveston

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that one on amazon is what you want. those other places probably won't be able to get the copper and brass one. apparently it is not made anymore and you have to get one out of a warehouse.
if it is good out of the box, it will be in the truck long enough that no one is going to be around to warranty it. The copper and brass one will be warrantied with an aluminum and plastic one anyway so get the good one while you still can.

at that price I may buy it for a spare if it stays on the site much longer.

I would trust amazon return over any auto parts store these days. Amazon is like wallmart, no questions asked, the get their money back from the vendor.
 

Duke Nukem

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I just took a closer look at the amazon one. It does only have a 24 month warranty, that definitely answers my question on what happens if it leaks a few years down the road. Check out the reviews for itt. The latest ones mention that they're selling the aluminum/plastic one now and never notified customers of the change, probably the same one I'd be getting at Autozone. By the way, I wasn't really trying to imply Autozone is better than Advance, I've just been luckier at one than the other, and that like everything else manufactured and sold these days, it's all a race to the bottom. I definitely realize that the Autozone lifetime warranty is still a risk, but one I'd gamble $25 on.

I'm still hoping though that mine can be repaired, we'll find out once I get it out tomorrow or Friday. Either way new hoses are going on also.
 

Drock

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Eatonton GA
I just took a closer look at the amazon one. It does only have a 24 month warranty, that definitely answers my question on what happens if it leaks a few years down the road. Check out the reviews for itt. The latest ones mention that they're selling the aluminum/plastic one now and never notified customers of the change, probably the same one I'd be getting at Autozone. By the way, I wasn't really trying to imply Autozone is better than Advance, I've just been luckier at one than the other, and that like everything else manufactured and sold these days, it's all a race to the bottom. I definitely realize that the Autozone lifetime warranty is still a risk, but one I'd gamble $25 on.

I'm still hoping though that mine can be repaired, we'll find out once I get it out tomorrow or Friday. Either way new hoses are going on also.
It's funny all the problems you've mentioned with Advance, I've had with Auto zone. On line shopping isn't the problem it used to be. Sense moving to rural GA 8yrs ago, all mine & my wife's shopping has to be done on line. I've ordered 5 radiators (not including the one for my truck), and a slew of other fragile items none with any problems that I can recall. Besides buy the time you traipse all over town trying to trick the big box stores into warrantying they're crap. How much $$$ did you really save? I'm self employed so my time and fuel are worth more then a set of brake pads:shrugs:2cents
 

Assel

Member
197
7
16
Location
Germany Schwarzwald-Baar
well even the CUCV crowd over here in germany orders most parts at rockauto.com, I had 1 damaged item in about 3 yrs (6.5td Aircleaner) ...took me 2 minutes to fill out the online-formular and within 2hrs I got an email which confirmed the new part was on the way (for exactly 0.0$ - shipped to germany!). Thats how "service" should be done. I have spent thousands of dollars online shopping and I will continue doing so 8)

good luck with your radiator and welcome to the site.
 

Duke Nukem

New member
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Location
NJ, USA
I probably didn't same much on the brake pads, not having to buy another battery right away saved me a lot. At the time, I was broke so my time wasn't particularly valuable, and I was more angry with them for their dishonest policies than trying to be practical anyway. I buy most things online, but vehicles always tend to break at the least convenient times, so having a place that I can (in theory) exchange the part and be up and running the same day sounds pretty good to me.
 

Duke Nukem

New member
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NJ, USA
So I finally got time from work to be able to try to do something about this today. I'm running into trouble right away, it's difficult to get to the radiator drain cock with the oil lines in the way, and when I snake my arm under the overflow can to get to it, I can reach it but it's stuck and doesn't want to turn. I hit it with some WD-40 and will try my luck again now.
 

richingalveston

Well-known member
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Location
galveston/Texas
throw the dw40 away and put some PB blaster on it.

if you are changing radiator why worry about it. get a new one for the new radiator and just remove the bottom hose to drain the radiator
 

Duke Nukem

New member
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Location
NJ, USA
Yeah I'll probably end up putting a new one in. I got it open, now dealing with a power steering pump bracket that doesn't want to move (if there's a way to do it without moving it, I still need to move it because the belt is somewhat loose)
 

Duke Nukem

New member
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Location
NJ, USA
Got the radiator out, I just unbolted the fan from the pulley. Still need to make that power steering bracket move so I can tighten the belt. Casualties so far: Cut through a transmission line because a fitting wouldn't come out and rounded off. I'll have to get a new fitting and re-flare the line. Also need two U-clips for the bottom fan shroud bolts, and the clip that holds the overflow line to the top of the fan shroud. We'll see what the radiator shop says tomorrow.
 

Duke Nukem

New member
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Location
NJ, USA
So my radiator can't be patched, and recoring would cost $560. I'm going with the aluminum and plastic Spectra despite really not being too big on that. Hopefully it will surprise me. Anyone know what type of plastic clip I need to buy to replace the one that I broke, holding the overflow line to the fan shroud?
 

Duke Nukem

New member
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Location
NJ, USA
I'm probably going to rig it temporarily with a wire tie like you said. Apparently the clip is a dealer/ebay item, so I'll grab it for a couple dollars when I get a chance. I generally prefer to keep older vehicles intact/original when it's practical, unless I have a good reason not to. I got everything except the fitting now, waiting for that to come in the morning. I'm not sure what the best way to go about cleaning the system is once I get it back together tomorrow (hopefully). Other than that, I should be good now and ready to move on to the next task.
 
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